On Sunday 9th December 2007, the European Parliamentary Delegation to Iran met with the members and associates of Nejat (rescue) Society in their office in Tehran.
The Delegation which was headed by Ms Angelika Beer MEP from Germany (the Chairwoman of the EP Iran Delegation) consisted of 24 MEPs from various groups from different European countries.
Mr Arash Sametipur a former member of the military section of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organisation (MKO) and one of the administrators of the Nejat society welcomed the delegation and introduced the goals and activities of the society. He discussed how he was recruited in the USA and sent to Iraq to receive military trainings as well as ideological teachings and then sent to Iran to carry out assassinations. He explained that since the Iranian authorities have a good understanding of the cultic nature of the MKO and they are well aware that the followers are brainwashed, they consider the members of the MKO as the prime victims of the organisation which must be helped rather than be punished.
Then Mr Sametipur invited Mr Ebrahim Khodabandeh and Mr Jamil Bassam former members of the MKO from the political section to talk about their experiences with the activities of the organisation in the western countries. Mr Khodabandeh referred to the absence of Mr Paula Casaca MEP from Portugal who dropped his name from the list of the delegation in the last minutes due to the pressure imposed by the MKO. He said that he was really willing to visit Mr Casaca today and tell him some mere facts about Iran and about the MKO. He mentioned that surely Mr Casaca missed an opportunity to face the truth.
Next was Ms Hura Chalchi another administrator of the Society and also a former member of the military section of the MKO who went into the details of the society’s activities. She brought up the case of the families of the members of the MKO in Ashraf Camp in Iraq who have no contact with their beloved ones and urged the European parliamentarians to make every possible effort to ensure a safe and private meeting between the families and their relatives inside the MKO.
Mr Qorban-Ali Pur-Ahmadi from Gilan province and Mr Reza Sadeqi Jebali from Esfahan, both former members of the MKO and present members of Nejat Society spoke next. Mr Jebali referred to his last meeting with Mr Casaca in Ashraf Camp in Iraq and said that he was really looking forward to seeing him here today since he had spoken with him in Ashraf Camp and today he wanted to tell Mr Casaca the other side of the story about the MKO which he has never heard before.
Then Ms Shahin Rabi’i a relative of a member of MKO in Ashraf camp addressed the delegation and expressed her demand of private contact with his brother Sa’id in Iraq. She said that she believes her brother has been mind manipulated and she seeks a way to help him out.
Then the members of the EP delegation raised their questions which were answered by the administrators and members of the society. Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne MEP from the United Kingdoms referred to her visit with Mr Khodabaneh and Mr Bassam in Evin Prison four years ago on the demand of the family of Mr Khodabandeh in Britain and said that the MKO made a huge propaganda demonstrating that these two individuals were under severe torture and soon would be executed which later was proved to been wrong.
Members of the delegation also expressed their regret about the presence of Mrayam Rajavi in the European Parliament and emphasised the fact that these people like all cults do not expose their real identity and try to deceive people to reach their own goals. In the end Ms Beer thanked the Nejat Society for providing them with good information about the MKO.
Some materials and documentations on MKO were handed over to each member of the delegation.
Nejat Society,12 December
